King's new responsibilities have forced her to resign from her radio programme on best friend Oprah Winfrey's satellite radio channel and her televised OWN interview show.

OWN's presidents Sheri Salata and Erik Logan have wished King well and insisted that there are no hard feelings over departure.

"We are so happy for Gayle's opportunity of a lifetime. Although her show will not continue on OWN, we look forward to her joining us from time to time as her schedule allows," Salata and Logan said in a joint statement.

The struggling Early Show has made many changes to its anchor chairs over its 13-year history, with Harry Smith, Bryant Gumbel and Julie Chen all helming the show at various points.